There is a difference when you compare IELTS reading with general reading.

1. Read by getting gist of each paragraph. Remember that the first step to become a good reader is to quickly understand what the reader wants to convey. Dont read word by word. Read one paragraph quickly and form a mental image of what idea the author wants to convey. This will help you in retaining what you read. This is important while taking the IELTS Reading exam.

2. This is most important:
Preparation for IELTS Reading needs to be covered in a strategic manner during the test. You have 60 mins for reading 3 passages. This is what you should do:
Passage 1: Allocate 16-17 mins, Passage 2: Allocate 20-22 mins, Passage 3: Allocate 25-26 mins
This is because with each passage the difficulty level increases. I would also advice you to complete all the passages in IELTS book that you have got from Cambridge. This is because one of the passage I got in real IELTS Reading exam was taken from this book. My 1st passage was Olympic torch. It was fact based and easy.
Second passage was on musical instruments- it was also easy. Third one was a bit tough- you will find it easy i feel if you read psychology, religion, arts, personality, sports psychology etc. For me, 3rd passage was on Child development. It was interesting but it took me more time to find answers.

So I would really recommend you to budget the time as i have mentioned above ( 16-20-24) during the IELTS Reading exam. It would really help you. Dont divide the time in 20-20-20 slots in reading.

3. Make sure you read all the instructions very carefully. If you have been asked to write TRUE/FALSE/NOT GIVEN, do not commit mistake of writing T or F or NG - this is wrong. Same with YES/NO type of questions. Do not write Y/N. Write what is asked. Also make sure you do not answer TRUE/FALSE for a YES/ NO question and vice versa. Such an answer will be considered wrong and fetch no marks. This is very important in IELTS Reading test.

4. Focus on dates/names/figures in IELTS Reading. It helps. I used this in Olympic torch essay that had come. There were many years specified in the passage like 1956, 1962, 1992 etc. So when you are answering questions, you can directly locate these figures in passage and you will save time. You need not completely understand what the passage said when it mentioned something in 1956. You can come back to passage after reading the figure 1956 in the question.

I hope these tips would help you in your preparation for IELTS Reading. In the next part, i would focus on writing skills for IELTS. I would write about how you can become a better writer and write in a professional, structured and cohesive way. The flow of ideas while writing is most important and I would focus on these aspects in my next post on 'writing for IELTS'.

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